Thomas Aqiunas was an imortant philospher and theologian of the Middle Ages (~500-1500). He has had a lot of influence on Christian ( & especially Roman Catholic) belief. Most of his philosphy is even based on these beliefs. And with his beliefs, he lived a faithful life, even while in prison & even into the days before his death.
Biography:
Aquinas lived during the Middle Ages, in the town of Aquino. He came from a noble family, and was born around 1225. When he was 5, his father sent him to the Benedictine monks to be raised. Later, he studied the liberal arts at the University of Naples.There he came across Aristotelian logic and physics.
He soon decided he would enter the Dominican order, but his parents didn't approve. They had him forced to come back home and put in prison. While he was there, they tempted him to change his ways with a variety of things. But he still didn't change his mind. For his faithfulness, God gave him the gift of perfect chastity, which gave him the name of the "Angelic Doctor". Finally, he was released and sent to Cologne. Here he soon got another nickname. Yet this time it was the "dumb ox", for his huge size and his silent ways. Soon, after a little bit of hard work, he received a degree and became a teacher at the University of Paris.
For several years, Thomas jumped around from place to place, finally ending up in Naples. There the pope persuaded him to go to the Council of Lyons. While on his way there, he stopped at a neice's castle and got extremely ill. Since he wanted to meet his death in a monastery and he wasn't close enough to reach a house of the Dominicans, he was carried to the Cistercian Fossanova. He died there in approxiamately 1274, and his remains were preserved.
Major Works:
Aquinas wrote the Summa contra Gentiles in about 1258. In this he tried to make non-Christians believe that the doctrines of Christianity were not opposing reason. Then, he wrote commentaries on the writings of Aristotle. After that, he started writing his most famous work, Summa Theologica. This work was made to explain Christian theology, but it never got finished. He is said to have had a mystical experience that caused all he had written to 'seem like straw' compared to it.
Philosophy:
Thomas's philosphy was mainly based around truth and Christianity. Faith and reason were also a part of his 'project'. Thomas believed that you could use both reason and faith to come to various conclusions. For instance, he decided that what he could reach through his faith (that God exists), could also be reached through his reason (with the concept that everything must have a first cause).
He also thought that there was only one truth. Like Aristotle not knowing about Christ not being the same as not believing. So, in a way, Aristotle wasn't putting reason and philosophy apart from faith. Another example comes from Sophie's World, "...only going part of the way is not the same as going the wrong way... it's not wrong to say that Athens is in Europe. But neither is it particularly precise...".
Quotes:
"Beware of the person of one book."
"A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational."
"By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments."
"How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God."
Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: a Novel about the History of Philosophy. Trans. Paulette Moller. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. Print.
"Aquinas, Thomas [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 6 May 2009. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. http://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas/.
"Aquinas, Saint Thomas." World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed. Vol. 1 A. Chicago: World Book. 581. Print.
Thomas Aquinas
Introduction:
Thomas Aqiunas was an imortant philospher and theologian of the Middle Ages (~500-1500). He has had a lot of influence on Christian ( & especially Roman Catholic) belief. Most of his philosphy is even based on these beliefs. And with his beliefs, he lived a faithful life, even while in prison & even into the days before his death.
Biography:
Aquinas lived during the Middle Ages, in the town of Aquino. He came from a noble family, and was born around 1225. When he was 5, his father sent him to the Benedictine monks to be raised. Later, he studied the liberal arts at the University of Naples.There he came across Aristotelian logic and physics.
He soon decided he would enter the Dominican order, but his parents didn't approve. They had him forced to come back home and put in prison. While he was there, they tempted him to change his ways with a variety of things. But he still didn't change his mind. For his faithfulness, God gave him the gift of perfect chastity, which gave him the name of the "Angelic Doctor". Finally, he was released and sent to Cologne. Here he soon got another nickname. Yet this time it was the "dumb ox", for his huge size and his silent ways. Soon, after a little bit of hard work, he received a degree and became a teacher at the University of Paris.
For several years, Thomas jumped around from place to place, finally ending up in Naples. There the pope persuaded him to go to the Council of Lyons. While on his way there, he stopped at a neice's castle and got extremely ill. Since he wanted to meet his death in a monastery and he wasn't close enough to reach a house of the Dominicans, he was carried to the Cistercian Fossanova. He died there in approxiamately 1274, and his remains were preserved.
Major Works:
Aquinas wrote the Summa contra Gentiles in about 1258. In this he tried to make non-Christians believe that the doctrines of Christianity were not opposing reason. Then, he wrote commentaries on the writings of Aristotle. After that, he started writing his most famous work, Summa Theologica. This work was made to explain Christian theology, but it never got finished. He is said to have had a mystical experience that caused all he had written to 'seem like straw' compared to it.
Philosophy:
Thomas's philosphy was mainly based around truth and Christianity. Faith and reason were also a part of his 'project'. Thomas believed that you could use both reason and faith to come to various conclusions. For instance, he decided that what he could reach through his faith (that God exists), could also be reached through his reason (with the concept that everything must have a first cause).
He also thought that there was only one truth. Like Aristotle not knowing about Christ not being the same as not believing. So, in a way, Aristotle wasn't putting reason and philosophy apart from faith. Another example comes from Sophie's World, "...only going part of the way is not the same as going the wrong way... it's not wrong to say that Athens is in Europe. But neither is it particularly precise...".
Quotes:
Works Cited: